


Prideposal

by HMS_Chill



Category: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Series - Mackenzi Lee
Genre: (no), Established Relationship, Fluff, I mean it's very fluffy, Like... so gosh darn fluffy, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Modern AU, This fic brought to you by: Anger at the US Government, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Unclear, but yeah it started out and was fueled by pure fury, scipio is an angel, so is johanna tbh i would die for her, will I ever write something where Scipio isn't Monty's adoptive dad?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-29 18:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19836361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HMS_Chill/pseuds/HMS_Chill
Summary: Monty and Percy can't get married. They know this. But that doesn't mean Monty won't ask.





	Prideposal

I've woken up next to Percy dozens, if not hundreds, of times. I've seen Percy glow in the sun hundreds of times. I've seen him smile hundreds of times. But somehow, seeing him wake up and smile on the morning of the day we're going to pride is infinitely more magical than I could ever imagine. The sun streaming through our window makes him glow like a god, and he leans close to my good ear to say, "Good morning, darling, happy pride."

He is ethereal. He is the most wonderful being I can imagine, human or otherwise. He is a deity deserving of worship, an angel sent to this earth to show humans just how wonderful we can be. And suddenly, I am more sure of one thing than I have ever been of anything in my life: I want this every morning. I want to wake up beside Percy Newton every morning for the rest of my life. I want to spend every day of my life with him, then fall asleep beside him every night.

I want to marry Percy Newton.

I can't, of course. I've known from the moment I left home that marrying Percy is out of the question, at least for the foreseeable future; we both have. We'd lose our disability benefits, which would realistically mean the end of my audiology appointments and his seizure medication. We just don't have the funds for those things, and while I'm sure I could find a way to adapt to being partially deaf, losing those benefits would bring back his seizures. I can't do that to Percy, but that doesn't stop me from dreaming. So, when he kisses my forehead and gets up to shower, I roll over to get my hearing aid and send a quick text to Felicity: "If I get engaged what's the government going to do to my benefits"

My phone vibrates immediately.

"Oh my god Monty what did you do"  
"I don't think the government has to know about engagements tho"  
"So they probably wouldn't do anything to your benefits but give me a few"

I respond with "You're a saint", and a few minutes later my phone is buzzing again.

"You don't have to tell them so they can't do anything. Also same-sex couples can't get common law married so you'll be ok to have an unofficial wedding if you want"  
"Call it a barf fest or something instead of a wedding and just don't tell cheeto man"  
"In short: go for it. It's against the spirit of the law but the law is fucked so be gay do crime, right?"

"BE GAY DO CRIME we'll see you at noon for the parade?"  
"Should I propose with a ring pop? That's stupid right?"

"Yes."

"We don't have money for a nice fancy one and I thought maybe I could play it off"  
"Do you have any ideas"  
"Sorry I know you think this kind of stuff is dumb but I love him and I want to do it right and you know him well and I'm rubbish at this stuff"  
"He deserves something really good tho. Like something awesome"  
"Also idk how big his fingers are but that's the least of my problems"

"Because I love him and am a good sister, I'll ask Johanna where to get nice rings that aren't too expensive. We can ft you from the store and you can pick one out for us to bring to pride, because I love your boyfriend."  
"I'm assuming this is happening today? You can't keep a secret from him longer than that. You told him about his surprise birthday party the day we started planning it."  
"Do you have a plan?"

"No"  
"Maybe"  
"You know that arcade we like"  
"Think they'd hold it behind the counter and let me say I won it for him"

"Probably. That's actually really cute."  
"I'll hide behind a Pac-Man game or something and film it if you want."  
"I'll take it there after we buy it and ask them if they'll hold it otherwise I'll give it to you at Pride and you can work something out."  
"I'll ft you from the store"

"Text first because I don't want him to know"  
"Also thank you so much you are an angel and the best sister in the world"  
"Would you please film? He'd like that"

She sends me a thumbs up and a "See you at noon for the parade", and I flop back onto the bed.

My first official date with Percy was at an arcade called Forbidden Planet not far from where we live now. He won me a plastic dinosaur that Felicity's friend Johanna helped me turn into a keychain. His name is Rexy and he guards my apartment keys and I love him for it. We were there on our first anniversary, too, and I won him a rainbow snap bracelet. He keeps it wrapped around the pills he takes twice a day, moving it up in the morning and down at night so he keeps track of whether or not he's taken them. On our second anniversary, we won each other little plastic snakes that we hang on our Christmas tree. Forbidden Planet is a place that means a lot to both of us, and it has for years. It's the perfect place for me to propose to him.

Over breakfast, I suggest we go on a date there after the pride parade. He agrees that it would be fun as long as the girls don't mind. The first step of my plan falls into place.

Felicity texts to face time at eleven. I go to the bathroom with earbuds and, with one in my ear and the built in microphone held to my mouth, I pick a ring for the love of my life. Johanna is there with Felicity, pointing out different things about each ring and clearly excited to be helping. We find one we all like, and I venmo Felicity for it while they take it to the arcade. Thirty minutes later, I get a snapchat selfie captioned "package delivered". Felicity is in the middle, holding the phone with both arms like a grandmother. Johanna is beaming over her right shoulder, and their friend Sim is wearing rainbow sunglasses and holding up a peace sign. It's geotagged at the Forbidden Planet arcade. I screenshot it, because I want every part of this adventure as documented as possible. Steps two and three are complete, and I am so excited that I can hardly keep it in. I want to tell Percy immediately, but the only way to do that would be to spoil the surprise. Instead, I swallow the urge and try my hardest to act natural.

It must not work too well, because as we leave and he locks the door behind us, Percy says, "You're excited." 

I just beam at him. We're both wearing pride flags around our necks like capes, because we can, and that in itself will never stop feeling special. But it is even more special today, when we are going to celebrate our love with other people who love like we do. We are going to be surrounded by people who believe that we are wonderful without needing to be anything different than who we are, and we get to celebrate that love today. We went to Pride last year, and it was amazing, but this year we're meeting people. We're going with Felicity and her friends, which means we have a group, which makes Pride a million times more exciting. And to top it off, I am going to propose tonight. Instead of trying to fit all of that into a response, though, I simply tell him, "It's pride! It's the best day of the year, and I have the best boyfriend in the world to celebrate it with. Of course I'm excited."

"How can you have the best boyfriend in the world when I'm dating him? Are you cheating on me with yourself, Monty?"

"Oh, absolutely, darling." He grins, pulling me in for a hug and kissing me, and it doesn't matter who sees, especially today. Today we can just be two people who are madly in love with each other, and we can celebrate that love without anyone around us caring.

God, I love Pride.

The girls are already at our parade meeting spot, and when Johanna sees us, she comes running to hug us both.

"No Max today?" I ask, and she shakes her head.

"No Max. It's too hot for him to be outside, and I didn't want him to scare anyone. I mean, we all know he's a giant softie, and he'd never hurt a fly, but he is a big dog, and that worries people."

We've reached the others, and I pull Felicity into a hug to ask, "Everything ready?"

I try to keep my voice even, but I'm not sure how I do. I'm worried. There are so many things that could go wrong even before I've even asked the question that I think I'm justified in my worry. But she nods.

"It's there, and I showed them a picture of you. While you're playing games, I'll talk to them again and be sure things are set."

"You're a goddess."

She shoves me off, and I notice for the first time that she's got ace and aro pride flags drawn on her face. I turn to Sim, who has replaced her Hijab with a rainbow flag for the day, and she sends me finger guns. I'm not going to even try to hug her, so I return the gesture with a grin. People down the street from us start cheering, and we turn to see the first group in the parade. Percy hugs me, and I join the crowd in cheering as the parade passes us. 

A few minutes later, Felicity taps my shoulder and points. A few people down, a group has taken up chanting 'L-O-V-E', hands changing shape with every letter. 

"It's sign language! They're fingerspelling as they chant; did... Monty, you're deaf. You learned sign language, didn't you?"

"Oh darling, I have much more important things to do with my hands."

"You butt; I learned it so I could talk to you," she says, and I laugh as she hits my shoulder. She teaches me the fingerspelling, and we take up the chant, cheering as churches and drag queens and the local library all march together under a rainbow banner. I'm cheering, surrounded by the family I've chosen and a community that would support us, and I can't remember being more content. This is, truly, a miraculous day.

After the parade we go to the _Eleftheria_ , the Greek restaurant where I work, for lunch. The front windows are full of pride flags, and when we arrive, the interior is beginning to fill up with them, too. The host, a younger boy named George, grins when he sees me come in and leads us to my favorite table, helping pull two together to fit our whole group. 

"Scipio's in the back, but he'll want to meet everyone. I'll let him know you're here," he says, and from near the back I hear him call, "Skip, your kid's here."

Even before we're ready to order, Scipio is coming out of the kitchen to slap my back and shake hands with everyone around the table. I introduce him as my boss, because that's easier than explaining to Sim and Johanna how he's become the closest thing I have to a father figure. 

The day I left home, the _Eleftheria_ was offering open interviews. I came in while Percy filled out forms for disability benefits in the library, hoping for something to earn us a bit of money until they kicked in. Scipio asked why I wanted to work for the restaurant, and I nearly broke down explaining the chaos of the hours before. He hired me as a waiter on the spot. There were a few weeks when the leftovers I brought back from work with me were a major food source for the two of us, and I've always suspected that Scipio caught on to that and started sending me home with extra. When the homeless shelter we were staying in kicked us out for being gay, I asked Scipio if we could spend a night in the restaurant, and he put us up in a hotel room until our apartment lease started. When tax season came around, he sat me down and helped walk me through every form to make sure we got the refunds we needed. He took me under his wing, spending hours in a closed restaurant with me teaching me to cook for myself and talking about anything I wanted. He's shown me more attention and love in the last two and a half years than my actual father showed me my whole life. Percy and Felicity know how much he means to me, and I think Sim and Johanna can tell, too.

He insists he'll bring us food we'll love, and we hand our menus over. He asks about dietary restrictions, which is already more thoughtful than most of the adults I grew up with, then promises to be back out soon with food for all of us, free of charge. I offer to help carry things, mostly just hoping to get a moment alone with him. He studies me for a second. We both know he doesn't need any help, but he nods and I get up and follow him into the kitchen, where he turns to me and asks, "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's... it's good. It's great, actually, Pride is wonderful. But um, you... you kind of know Percy, right? Like you've talked a few times?"

"I suppose I'd say I know him a bit. Why?"

"I'm... I'm going to ask him to marry me. Well not marry me; we can't get married. Not yet, not without losing our benefits and then he'd have seizures and I'd have to give up my audiology appointments and maybe my hearing aid. But you know. Eventually, or maybe just socially, but I... I love him a lot. And I want to marry him."

"I know you love him. He's a good boy, Henry, and I can tell every time I see you together how much you love him. You two are going to have a wonderful life together."

"So you think it's a good idea?" I'm not sure I realized just how much I need Scipio to believe in me until this moment. If he thinks it's not a good idea, there's a chance I'll go back on everything. He knows me well, probably better than I know myself, and he wants what's best for me. If he thinks this is a bad idea, then he'll have a good reason, and I might have to give it up. But he nods.

"I do. You love him, and if the amount of time he's spent waiting out there to surprise you or walk you home is any indication, he loves you, too. You boys have been through things that would ruin other couples, but you've stayed together through it all. A love like that deserves to be honored by a promise. How long have you been planning this?"

"It's 1:30 now? Like... five hours, maybe? I've wanted to spend my life with him forever, but I decided to ask him this morning. Felicity looked into it and said we should be alright as long as we don't do anything legally binding, and then she and her friend Johanna helped me pick out a ring over facetime and took it to the arcade where we had our first date so I can win it for him." Scipio laughs, a big booming thing, as he pulls me in for a hug. 

"Henry Montague, you are incredible. I think that sounds wonderful. Now, let's get this food out to your family; they've got to be hungry. No pork for one girl and no meat for the other, right?"

I nod, and he hands me a tray while he picks up two more. I already know it's far more food than five people can eat, but that's how every portion is at the restaurant. People leave with full bellies and full doggie bags, an arrangement especially popular with college students. If they don't fill their doggie bags, the food goes out back to feed a growing cat colony, all looked after by the staff and a local shelter. Scipio says that he doesn't want anyone to go hungry, not the people or the cats, and I couldn't agree more. 

I sit down with the others when we come out with the food, and Scipio assigns himself as our waiter, promising to look after us until we go back out to join the festivities. Felicity tells him he's brought too much food, but he laughs her off and tells us to enjoy. And we do. There's a playlist of queer artists in the background, and we are surrounded by queer folks and the closest thing that Percy, Felicity, and I have to family outside of each other. When Percy gets food on the side of his mouth, I can lean over and kiss it off without worrying about who's watching. We can laugh and talk and love each other, all five of us in our own ways, without worrying about anything. 

When Scipio comes back with our doggie bags, he asks if I've seen the schedule. We both know I have, but I shake my head and follow him away. Out of sight of the table, he presses a small coin into my hand.

"A Vasilopita coin, for luck tonight. You won't need it, but still. For luck. You've got something special here, kid. I'm happy for you both." I very nearly hug him, but he hugs me instead. 

"Thank you for everything, Scipio. I mean everything. You... I swear you're an angel, you really are. If we have an unofficial wedding, I'll make sure you're invited." He grins, then ruffles my hair and sends me off, and if I have to wipe a few tears, I do it before I get back to the table so no one sees.

The rest of the day is a blur. There's a drag show that has Sim and me whooping, and Felicity points out that there's someone signing there, too. There are booths where we pick up free flavored condoms and one where there are free rhinestones for Johanna to stick to all our faces. There are children on the shoulders of queer parents and queer people old enough to be my grandparents. There are mothers passing out love notes that make Felicity cry and parents giving hugs that have the same effect on me. I'm not entirely sure what exactly we do, but that doesn't matter nearly as much as the fact that we are doing it, and we're doing it surrounded by people who are just like us.

Eventually, the girls all come up with excuses to peel off, leaving me and Percy to go toward the arcade alone. He puts an arm around my shoulders as we walk, pulling me close to say, "I love you. Just so you know. I am madly in love with you."

"I love you more," I tell him, and he shakes his head.

"Impossible. You're too short for that! If you were as full of love as I am, your head would explode and it would pop out your eyes."

"It's compressed. Like a can of spray paint! I'm full of compressed love, and it expands when it comes out of my mouth." He's laughing, pulling me closer and making me wait while he wipes tears of laughter from his eyes.

"I just... I pictured you as... as a bottle of spray paint, and you would just... your mouth would open like... like a pez, and the paint..." I'm laughing too, now, and we are two queer, in love idiots. We will spend the rest of our lives being two queer, disabled idiots who love each other more than anything, and no laws or consequences for celebrating that love can get in the way of it. Our love is a beautiful thing, no matter what happens tonight.

We reach the arcade relatively early, before it's started to get busy for the night. That's another part of our tradition-- if we come late, the noise is a lot for me, and the flashing lights are more intense and harder for Percy. When we come early, we don't have to worry about those things, and even better, we don't have to wait in line for anything. When we walk in together, I turn to Percy and say, "I'm going to win you the best prize ever."

"Not if I win it for you first."

"Impossible."

"I'm going to win you a teddy bear bigger than you are."

"I'm going to win you something even better than a teddy bear!"

We have this argument every time we come in. Neither of us have ever gotten enough tickets to win more than one of the little toys or pieces of old candy they keep below the counter, but that isn't the point. The point is that we are both determined to make our boyfriend happy, even if we are absolutely dreadful at the games. It all feels so natural that I almost forget to be mildly panicked. In less than an hour, I will be asking Percy to marry me. In two hours, Percy and I could be engaged. It is somehow both the most insane thing I've ever done and the most natural thing in the world. Then again, that's how most of our relationship has been: insane, but natural, all a blend of fear with trust, hands clasped as we step into the unknown. Today I'm taking a step forward, but I have to believe that he will be there to hold my hand.

The arcade games serve as a good distraction from my worries.They become a competition quickly, both of us trying to top the other's score while we play and be the most distractingly affectionate while we watch. We've each come in with a roll of quarters, and we take turns playing games until our rolls are traded for stacks of tickets. I suggest we surprise each other with the prizes we've won, and Percy agrees to both the plan and going first. I wait by the ticket counter until he calls me, then go out to find him holding a little planet keychain in the colors of the bi pride flag still tied around my neck.

"A planet for Forbidden Planet, and in your pride colors. A keychain so you can always have it with you to remind you that I love you for who you are, and that we've had some truly wonderful dates here. Plus, it can keep Rexy company. Best prize ever."

"I love it, Perce, I really do, but I'm still going to win you something better. You don't have to go anywhere, but turn around so I can surprise you?" I kiss him as I take the keychain, then he turns and this is it. I see Felicity off to the side and give her a thumbs up, then turn to the counter. The girl working takes my phone to film from her angle, where she should hopefully be able to catch his face on video, and hands me a little ring box.

My hands are shaking as I take it. I know he's almost certainly going to say yes, but that doesn't make this any less scary. It feels like I am taking a step off a cliff, trusting him to catch me. I get down on one knee, take a deep breath, and say, "Okay; I've got it."

"That was so quick; how did you--" he turns fully and stops short, his eyes going wide as a hand moves to cover his mouth. I am so incredibly in love with him that I nearly forget I have to say something, but I take a deep breath and launch into some semblance of the speech I've been concocting all day.

"Percy Newton,you are... everything to me. You are my first thought every morning and my last every night. You have been just... the most incredible friend a person could have for my whole life, and even though things have kind of gone to shit these past two and a half years, they have been the best years of my life because I've gotten to spend them completely and utterly in love with you. I want nothing more than to keep loving you, from this moment into forever. I know we can't get married right now, but whenever I complain about how things are now you say that someday, the world will be better. So, Percy Newton, when the world is better, will you marry me?"

We're both crying, but he nods, and I get to my feet to hug him. 

"Told you my prize would be better," I whisper, and then he's laughing through his tears, and we're both laughing as I slip the ring onto his finger and he bends down to kiss me. I take my phone back from the girl who's working, and Felicity comes out to congratulate us, Sim and Johanna with her, and I can't stop smiling. Johanna takes photos for us, directing us around the arcade and posing us for some wonderful shots. I find a moment to text one to Scipio, and he replies that he's proud of me. Johanna sends us pictures, Felicity sends the video, and I post them to Instagram captioned "He said yes! (he said nothing but he cried and nodded so that's close enough). Happy pride!"

And that night, when we're in bed together and Percy's hand is resting on my shoulder, the ring is on that hand. "How long did you plan that?" he asks softly, and I blush so fiercely that I'm sure he can see it, even in the darkness of our room.

"Honestly? I started this morning. I mean, I've always known I wanted to spend forever with you, but this morning I just... I don't know. Something about it being pride, and me loving you so much... I wanted to make it official. I know I can't keep anything from you, so it had to be soon, and then Felicity offered to help me and everything fell into place today. I hadn't even... I picked out the ring over facetime. Felicity and Johanna picked it up for me and took it to the arcade, so I hadn't even really seen it until then." He laughs, kissing my cheek and holding out his hand for us both to admire the ring he's agreed to wear for the rest of his life. I've taken my hearing aid out for the night, but we're close enough that I can hear as his laughter fades into content chuckles, and it makes my heart soar.

"Well, you did a wonderful job over facetime, and I am so glad you did this. Thank you, Monty. I love you more than anything, and I love the ring, and I love the life we've built. Thank you."

I kiss him, and he smiles and says goodnight as he pulls me close to cuddle. He is mine, now and forever, more officially than ever before. Someday, when the laws have changed and marriage won't be the end of our ability to look after ourselves, the fact that we are each other's will become even more official. But for now, I'm in his arms, and I will get to fall asleep in those arms every night for the rest of my life. And in the end, that is all I really need.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! Did you know that in the US and Canada, we still don't have marriage equality? That's right folks; if a Disabled person gets married in either of those countries (and probably others that I don't know about), they lose their benefits! At best, that means that they will likely have a slew of new expenses and at worst, it's a death sentence! It's a prejudiced and outdated system based on eugenics and it sure does suck!  
> -  
> On the topic of my anger at social issues, this is a bit weird for me, but would anyone be interested in the opportunity to commission fic by donating to charity? They're doing that in another fandom I'm in and it sounded like a good idea. If you're interested, I put together a tumblr post about it [here.](https://hms-chill.tumblr.com/post/186334662413/charity-fic-commissions)  
> -  
> As always, I'm [HMS-Chill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hms-chill) on tumblr for fic stuff and [Hschill5](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hschill5) for anything else! If you wanna leave a comment/kudos/whatever either here or over on tumblr, I'd love that! Cheers!


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